Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister and all of his officials for attending our first meeting. I wish him well in his journey over the next number of years and with the negotiations on the upcoming CAP deal, which is what I wish to focus on first. One of the things that is of great concern is the notion that we could see a situation where we do not have Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 again but have amalgamation, and the threat that would be to the fund overall. The Minister mentioned in his reply to other contributors that among the agriculture Ministers there is unanimity that this is what they want to see. Have we done any work among the finance ministers and trade ministers to try to establish where we stand in respect of that with all the other governments? The Minister makes a very valid point that in many countries across Europe agriculture is not as big a priority as it is in Ireland. It does not hold the same weight in those countries because it is not as big an industry, or does not contribute as much to their economies. We certainly would like to hear what work has been done in this regard, particularly when we look at the situation with the MFF, which is going to be the key. A lot of that is going to be determined by finance and trade ministers rather than agriculture ministers, with all due respect.